R part 1

The Rules of

New Atlantis

The name of the Charitable Company, Club and independent country is NEW ATLANTIS.

This document shall constitute its rules. It is written in plain English, and generally unnumbered to make it easy to read and understand. This may however lead on some occasions to a difference in interpretation. The valid interpretation shall that of the President, or that of the trustees if the President should refer the matter to them.

Every member or family shall have a copy of the members hand book, which will be provided within one month of there first months standing order payment being processed.

Introduction

It is the wish of the founders, the first president and the trustees that every member upon joining fully understands what New Atlantis is all about, its founding principles, how it is run, and how this all effects them.

While the objective is to produce as near to the perfect society as possible, we all realise that people will have different views, at least in part, of what is a good society. The involvement of the members is therefore designed into the rules to allow you to help guide the direction New Atlantis takes.

The Founding Ideas.

As you will see, as you read this document the ideas include the creation of a new Independent kingdom. Initially the independent kingdom is a virtual kingdom as no physical land is part of the package, and there is no intention to try to obtain part of any other countries land. While the Club and Charitable company can be considered as one entity, the virtual kingdom is until such time as a physical country exists held in the imagination of the members, lead by the president.

However being a virtual or imaginary nation, is not new as many states and peoples have throughout history referred to themselves as a race or sovereign group although they had at the time, no physical land.

You will find that there are a separate range of documents, we call vision documents, these are not part of the rules, but ideas of what might be achieved. Some parts of theses are science fiction, ideas of how a floating country could be constructed, or a series of floating islands, what it might look like or how it might be run. The idea of these is to stimulate thought, discussion and research. Later they will become more like actual plans. Other vision documents will look at communities within other countries, perhaps as a retirement complex, commune or other idea. They do not at any point represent the only or even desired option, just one of many worth considering.

One of the first decisions was the type of administration, and we recognised that there are many different forms of administration throughout the world that appears the right one for there own situation and population. While all have there advantages, many have disadvantages, often where although in theory democracy prevails, wealth, party membership and other factors are a controlling influence. In many cases, so called democratic governments, are run by the largest gang, often with support of less that 25% of the overall population, and minority groups or interests have no way of being effectively represented. In many systems most people are not involved, for a number of reasons, and in some cases self interest appears the main motivation.

The system we have decided upon is a mixed system, and while at first sight it might appear like a cross between the UK and USA systems, it is not. It is based far more on a mixture of a number of elements, some extracted from history such as the structure common throughout Europe in the times then a Knight had a role to play. Partly from the ideals written down from the earliest histories to the modern day, and partly from the principles which appears to have allowed some religions and other groups to grow.

The head of our civilisation is the President, who's role is in some ways similar to a Roman Emperor, and a cross between a King of many years ago and the President of a democratic country. He is the head of state and above politics. Good presidents will achieve decisions and actions by motivating and encouraging, getting agreements and compromises, rather than dictatorial decisions. However a new country needs to be strong, to be able to respond positively and quickly, which many systems cannot, and to guard against those who would take over the new venture for their own ends. He is the honouree head of every New Atlantis organisation and trust, and the head of its royal family. Therefore his correct title is Prince (First name) President of New Atlantis.

New citizens swear an oath of allegiance, not that different from new citizens of the USA, and can then progress up an honour system.

The honour system was developed not to mark superiority, but service. Every officer of New Atlantis is a servant of the citizens. From the President down, the office they hold marks there devotion to serve the citizens of New Atlantis. This level of service is respected and honoured by all.

Any member can move up the honour system, it is not dependent on wealth or birth.

Any citizen who decides to devote there lives totally to serving New Atlantis, and becomes totally subject to the will of the President can join the Royal Family. These are not just ceremonial roles but a team of dedicated workers, some who will be administrators, some trouble-shooters and some undertaking other roles to serve the members.

There are two elected houses as in many other systems, the house of deputies, called deputies because they deputies for other members who cannot all take part, and the trustees.

The trustees role is to maintain the charitable company, promote the objectives and control and defend the rules of New Atlantis.

The role of the house of deputies is to develop the book of law, that will become the laws on New Atlantis when it gets a physical place of its own, and up to that time are a guide for all citizens spread throughout the world. One of the founding principles is that citizens should not be subject to laws that they do not know exist, so the laws are restricted to what can be filed in a single ring binder, have to be in a reasonable sized type and written in plain language.

The objects of New Atlantis are;

	To improve the quality of life of its members;
	The establishment, promotion and administration of an independent virtual country, an honour based society, known as New Atlantis, which will strive for and acknowledge excellence in all ways
	To research, promote, establish and administer communities or branches by peaceful means within any country or place or on any structure, but not to in any way try to take over another's sovereign area or property.
	To promote the spreading of knowledge, understanding, peace and justice between all people, and governments;
	To improve the quality of life of all citizens of all countries where this does not conflict with the above objectives;
	To promote the understanding of humanity, responsible care of the environment and earth's resources, endangered species, and the welfare of all creatures.
	To promote the concept of shared decision making in a non adversarial way, the development of systems of law, that all citizens understand, and methods of administration that will be beneficial to all citizens; the concept of individual rights, responsibilities, and honour; and to encourage others to take part in the definition of a perfect country and to encourage other countries to borrow from this philosophy.
	The promotion and support of the electronic information service or BBS known as Atlantis Virtual World, or any successor which access is and will be for all time, free to all people, and available on a public telephone service.
	The promotion of commerce, art, science, education, health, religion or belief system, charity or any profession and anything incidental or conducive to these objectives;

New Atlantis will use many means of achieving these aims including:-

	Recruiting members of various grades, encourage members to progress to higher grades, and to gain a greater understanding of all things;
	Carrying out research, collect data, information or knowledge, to carry on discussions, test theories, and to store or publish any of these.
	To establish special projects towards this end, such as the Choices Project which attempts to define all the major decisions throughout life, the choices available, and likewise for a civilisation the ideal structure, system of laws, methods of administration, representation and other factors;
	The development of the Reports Club, so as to make available to as many members as possible the results of the work undertaken;
	The development of correspondence courses, or self help kits, on a range of topics.
	Carrying out any enquiry, or research on any event, situation or topic, and to producing a reports and publicising the findings.
	Establish as a division, an institution to be known as the New Atlantis University of Life, and for this to undertake the expansion or extension of learning, or the pursue of knowledge and to issue degrees acknowledging achievements; to administer a correspondence course exchange and promote on its own, or with others distant learning and courses of all types.
	Establishing and manage as divisions of New Atlantis various orders of knighthood, which promote the concept of honour;
	Establishing or supporting any trusts, associations, clubs or institutions formed to carry out any aspect of the Objects, as well as any New Atlantis trusts as defined in the rules of membership.
	Supporting any charitable trusts, associations or institutions with all or any of the Objects, or under the rules;
	Co-operating with other charities, voluntary bodies and, statutory authorities operating in furtherance of the Objects or similar charitable purposes and to exchange information and advice with them;
	Other means including those defined within the memorandum of the charitable company and within the rules.